


Five Folds

by flippednique



Series: Locomotion [2]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Dorks in Love, Fluff fest, M/M, Strong Language, another progress fic, baffled Kagami, basically it's how they get together, renegade Kuroko, slight prompt of waterworks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-02
Updated: 2015-04-02
Packaged: 2018-03-20 05:21:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3638292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flippednique/pseuds/flippednique
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You don't always have to suffer in silence." </p><p>Or that story where Kagami wished he knew Kuroko as well as he thought he did, but all he really knows is that he screwed up big time and here was his chance to fix things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Folds

**Author's Note:**

> **AN:** Hello everybody! This is a spin-off sort of of my fic Seven Steps. It's AoKise centric with hints of other couples if you squint. If you read that and you wanted to read more of certain couples then here's the one for you KagaKuro fans! 
> 
> Some scenes may be familiar and others (mostly) entirely new but hey- it's Kuroko and Kagami's time to shine!
> 
> You don't have to read Seven Steps to understand Five Folds. Their timelines just inter-loop sometimes.  
>  
> 
> **Nique**

**Part One**

Taiga knew a lot of things were better left unsaid. That was his opinion anyways. One of those things he wished he never had to sit down and hear about would be sex. It was just much too much of a topic, to discuss with your father as if it were the same as talking about the weather (either way too hot or way too cold), or his grades (failing but what else was new?). It didn't help that he had only been thirteen, when his father gave him the dreaded 'talk'.

He wasn't sure what normal teenager would have sex on his mind at that age but he was definitely not like them. All he had thought about, talked about, and maybe even dreamed about at the age was his first love; basketball. And maybe it had become an obsession, but it was more because of how passionate he was about it than it was about excelling in it. He played because he loved it, and there was no way he'd ever give up something he loved. 

Transferring to Japan, moving to attend Seirin, meeting all those people. None of that, none of that had been in his plans. Just like moving back to the states after all the ties he'd built, after all the relationships he'd formed hadn't been, yet again, a part of his plans. Not at all. 

In the end, Taiga learned to just simply roll with it. He wouldn't get anywhere by arguing. His father supplied him financially, and if he didn't study he would never get anywhere in life. Even when his father looked at him with a skeptical look at his expressed desire to learn how to cook, he had stayed firm with his decision. He could be a fireman, he had wanted that too, but his father would have skinned him alive. 

Better a man who could cook than a man who lazed about waiting for the time he was needed. Not that that's what he thought of firemen. He thought they were very brave. Dauntless, even, if he had to put them in a faction. (Tatsuya made him read the book). 

At the moment, standing in the middle of the street, which was still alive and kicking- when did America ever rest?- Taiga felt anything but brave and fearless. He actually felt like a little kid who just saw the boogey man, and due to instinct, he wanted to turn around and leave. Get far away as fast as possible. But a the same time, he couldn't leave.

First, there was a massive crowd of people behind him despite the late-night-early-morning hour, and b), he'd never turned away from catching up with friends. Even if this one was unintentional, and he wasn't so sure if it was welcomed.

But he would try anyways.

Time had changed his old friend, he was still pale, still small- well, smaller than him anyways. He still had muscles, firm and taut from all those years that they trained, partially together, sometimes alone. His hair was still the same fine powder blue. It was long, longer than he remembered? No. It actually looked partially the same. And seeing it, seeing him that way took Taiga back. Back to high school, the games, the struggles, training under Riko. Those were fine memories.

"Oi, Kuroko!" He didn't have to try and be cheerful. It came naturally to him, because even if he'd left them. Even if he'd wanted to come back to them all these years, to catch up, to even visit (but daddy said no), he missed them dearly. 

A quick turn of his head, a glance at him. Taiga swallowed the lump in his throat. The sentiments were not returned. Not if that cold look was any indication. Not if that harsh stare was anything to base on. 

He moved to step forward, offer his fist, offer himself, a thing of the past and bring it to that moment but Tetsuya had moved forward, moved away, in a flurry of blue that disappeared into thin air and Taiga was sure he'd just been misdirected.

Misdirected, by his very own shadow. If that didn't hurt like shit, then he was going to pull a Ryouta and get his ears pierced. 

* * *

He wasn't sure if it meant anything, maybe he was a little too sleepy after working on a graveyard shift, or maybe he had been thinking too hard. Taiga sunk into his chair as much as he could and sipped at his milkshake, eyebrows pulling together in the middle of his forehead. He stared across their small table and pursde his lips as he thought hard. "What do you think Tatsuya? Did I dream everything up?"

"I have no idea, Taiga." Tatsuya shook his head, his bang moving ever so slightly. It was odd seeing his brother looking as he did. It was as if he hadn't changed, hadn't grown at all while Taiga had just shot up like a beanstalk. It wasn't a jibe on Tatsuya's height or anything. It was just a... sad observation. Was he moving too fast? Too soon? Was he leaving everyone behind? 

Again? 

"Maybe you were just dreaming?"

"But... I don't think I was." Taiga trailed off.

Tatsuya had a flair for dramatics, well when he was with people he was close with at least. The raven head blew on his bangs and proceeded to slump in his chair, beginning a tirade on little brothers and how stubborn they could be.

"Why don't you just talk to him?" Tatsuya asked.

"How? He barely looked at me let alone talked to me. It's not like I read his mind and got his digist!" Taiga grumbled. He reached for his second burge and tooka big bite out of spite. He wasn't sure why his brother liked to tease him like this. He wasn't that stupid. And if he could read Tetsuya's mind then he would have used it to understand a lot of things a lot more important than his number. 

"Facebook exists for a reason?" Tatsuya's visible eyebrow arched pointedly. "I know you're not a text kind of person, but you could always just check for his number or where he is. Maybe he's actually in Japan and you really were just sleep deprived."

But sometimes Tatsuya gave him good advice. Really, really good advice. Taiga didn't want to ruin what was so little of their time together before Tatsuya had to go back to work. He had no idea being a fashion designer was so time consuming. If something looked good wasn't that good enough?

His brother said he had a very simple mind and it wasn't an insult. "You're just easy to please. You don't want much. It's nice. Simple."

Unlike everything else, unlike everybody else who just had to make things so dam complicated. Someone just had to be losing his job, someone just had to be cheated on, someone just had to lose his job. Drama. Drama. Drama. Ugh he was so sick of it. He could appreciate Ryouta's sunny disposition sometimes. Even he could make a grumpy Ahomine smile on a bad day. And it wasn't because Ryouta bought him a car (again), or a really expensive pair of Jordans (again). No. Ryouta just challenged him to a one on one. It was that simple. But it made them happy.

Taiga shook his head, and attempted to change the topic of the conversation. "How's the new babysitter?"

Tatsuya glared at him. 

* * *

 

Two weeks from his last conversation with Tatsuya, Taiga was minding his own business, watering his plants out on his balcony when a flash of blue caught his eyes.

And not just any blue. But that blue. He dropped his watering can with a loud bang and water flew everywhere, soaking his shirt, making him yelp. Someone was smoking on the blacony two apartments to his left. Taiga couldn't move a muscle, heck he could barely dare to breathe. But Tetsuya had clear control of himself. 

He looked at him with mild surprise, eyebrows raised. That was as much emotion as taiga was expecting to get out of him. He wasn't imagining things now was he? Tetsuya was really there? Actually, he wouldn't mind it if he were hallucinating right now because Tetsuya and smoking in the same setnence just- no. God no. Sweet baby Jesus in the high heavens above what the actual fuck?!

Taiga felt every nerve in his body jump as Tetsuya flicked his hand, sending ashes to rain down on his balcony floor. He seemed to pause, seemed to wait, make sure Taiga was watching, before he put the half-gone cigarette to his lips, inhaled in a practice and careful motion, before he let out a puff of smoke that made Taiga's heart clench tightly in his chest.  

His feet moved faster than his brain did and he found himself knocking just a little too loudly on apartment 20's green door. It opened without much ado, and witha slight harried flourish.

"You smoke?" Taiga deadpanned. 

Tetsuya, now currently cigarette free, kept a hand on the door. He was clearly not letting him in. "Yes." 

"I didn't know that." Taiga said.

Tetsuya looked at him with expressionless eyes. "How could you? I started when you weren't there to see it."

 _I started when you weren't there to stop me. I started when you left. Left Japan, let us, left me. Didn't you hear me call for you? Didn't you see me running through the airport so I could at least say goodbye?_  

Taiga cleared his throat, and tried to pretend he wasn't trying to fill in the silence that Tetsuya was leaving him with. Not with those thoughts. Taiga clenched his teeth slightly. He would not pretend that he understood how Tetsuya thought. After all, he hadn't seen this coming.

"I... didn't know you were here." Taiga mumbled.

"I wasn't aware I had to inform you." Tetsuya's voice was clipped. Entirely too relaxed. Too casual. too fake. "Next time I come I'll remember to leave you a note."

Taiga winced. "I guess I deserve that."

"And more." Tetsuya agreed. He seemed like he wanted to say something else, but he kept himself in check. A flash of annoyance gleamed in his blue eyes. "Is there anything else you need? I have other things to do."

_Other things more important than speaking with you._

"How long are you here for?" Taiga asked. He wanted to know. He needed to know. Did he have time?

"Not long." Tetsuya looked away. "Something's going on and I have to fix things. Then I'll leave. I won't be here."

_Not long enough for you to change anything._

Tetsuya closed his door with a cool and resolute. "Goodbye Kagami-kun."

And for the second time in his life, Taiga felt his heart break in a million pieces with the sound of the quiet click. Not mad, but livid. 

Anger, anger Taiga could take. But this silence. Not knowing just how much Tetsuya was hurting, not knowing just how much Tetsuya wanted to scream. Taiga couldn't handle it. 

He screwed up so bad. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **AN:** Hello everybody~! I was plotting this earlier and the story sort of got away from me. I had the urge to write about a deviant!Kuroko hence the smoking. It's got Kagami thrown out of it (and there will be more bwahahaha). 
> 
> The Kuroko-Nigou-airport scene will be here as promised XD 
> 
> **Nique**


End file.
